Bring Me Home
by smiith21
Summary: Set after 2x06 - A Hosie story (re-written & renamed)
1. 1: The Most Resilient Mikaelson

A/N: So I've decided to rewrite this story because I didn't like the tone and the direction it was heading previously. I also renamed it to something I think will suit it more in the later chapters.

Hope took a deep breath before reluctantly entering her old room. Boxes were piled up to the ceiling with all of her belongings that Alaric never bothered to move. He just locked the room and called it a storage closet. No matter how unrecognizable the room was however, to Hope, it felt like the closest thing to home. She didn't belong anywhere in the world just hours ago when no one truly remembered her because of Malivore, but now she had a place to stay. If only those who surrounded her would re-accept her.

She began to walk towards one of the boxes that contained old pictures of family and friends including her mom, dad, Josie, Landon and more. Her Aunt Freya had decided to stay one more day before heading back to New Orleans. She of course had obligations there with Keelin and Nik.

Hope traced her hand over a picture of her and her father, which had been glossed over with dust since she jumped into the pit. As her eyes started to well up when she reminded herself of everything she lost both 3 years ago with her parents and recently with her friendships, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey," said Freya softly as she gazed at her niece with sympathetic eyes, "I just wanted to see if you needed help unpacking."

"To be honest," Hope sniffled under her breath, trying not to seem like she was crying, "I don't know if I want to stay." Freya took a step towards her niece with a concerned look across her face. "What makes you say that?"

"I just..." Hope hesitated trying to appear as confident as possible to her aunt, who was already getting suspicious, "I just don't feel like I belong here anymore. I'm just going to complicate things." Her voice trailed off as she picked up the picture frame of her and her family and sat down on the undressed mattress.

Freya took this as a hint and sat down next to the tribrid, pulling her under her arm in an attempt to comfort her. With her head atop of Hope's she began, "Hope, you belong here. Before all this Malivore stuff, Alaric kept me updated on your progress here, and you seemed to have made a new family here."

Hope flinched at the mention of family, triggering her memories of her father and mother. She only sighed for an answer, not looking up at Freya to hide her puffy, red eyes.

Freya shifted their position to where she turned both of their bodies so that they were directly facing each other, "I'm not saying that anyone could replace your mom or dad, but I know you care about these people and deep down they care about you too. They just need time to re-adjust to you being in their lives again where they know who you are."

Freya takes her eyes off of her niece and shifts them down to the picture in Hope's hands. "and I know they would be so proud of you right now. You're just like every Mikaelson, always sacrificing themselves unnecessarily."

The joke did lighten the mood, but tears still littered the tribrid's face as she was pulled into a hug by her aunt. Freya moves her hands to her niece's face, wiping the remaining tears off. With her hands still cupped around her face, "I think we should start working on getting this room back to _your_ room" Freya suggested, to change the topic.

Both the blonde witch and her niece got up off the bed and moved towards the boxes, where they sorted through the different lamps, lights, candles, paintings, paints, and everything else that was stuffed away. Her and her aunt quickly re-placed all the items that were scattered around Hope's room before the end of the last school year and were done in about 20 minutes. All the negative thoughts and tearful conversations were long forgotten in that brief period of time, but as Hope pulled out the last picture, one of her and Landon, buried at the bottom of the final box, all positive progress had been lost.

"I've seen that look before," said Freya, interrupting the auburn haired girl's downward spiral, "You love him, don't you?"

"Of course I do," sniffled Hope, "We shared an epic love, if that even exists," her voice trailed off. "But me being here will just complicate things. He was so happy with Josie, but now with the memories… I'm afraid I'm going to lose both of them, my first love and my best friend. And what if he doesn't choose me? I won't be happy here, and it will be my fault. It always is…"

Hope was out of breath after her confession. She sobbed in between each sentence, each one getting louder and more intense than the next. She sighs before beginning again, but this time trying to control her emotions, "Everytime I lose someone, the voice in my head says it's my fault. It happened with my mom, it happened with my dad, and it's no different in this situation."

Her aim to try and be more stable proved to be ineffective, as the lights in the room started to flicker and the furniture to rattle. Hope doesn't realize that she was the cause of the ensuing chaos occurring only in her room, so she continued with just as much infliction as before, "It was my choice to jump into Malivore. It was my decision to not tell everyone who I was when I got back. It should be my decision to choose if I want to leave Mystic Falls or not."

Hope was yelling now, and at the end of her last sentence, the newly put up lights had exploded with a wave of magic that had simultaneously knocked over Freya, sending her to the ground.

Hope stood in the center of her room, realizing what she had done. She fell to the ground as well, not because of magic, but because of desperation and exhaustion. Aunt Freya had already made her way to Hope, gathering her back into a hug, trying to calm her down when Hope began to speak again, but this time in a much more calm manner, "I just don't want to cause anymore pain to the people I love."

Freya let her words sit in the air a while before responding, "You are Hope Mikaelson, the strongest known being on this planet but you're not only that. You are the most resilient Mikaelson of this family. You are not alone and will never be alone Hope."

Within an instant of her saying that, Freya was met with the strongest, and most affectionate hug from the tribrid who seemed like she was never going to let go. Without letting go, Freya put a simple in theory yet completely complicated idea into the air: "If you're that upset about the chance of losing him, why don't you go talk to him?"

"That's easier said than done, Aunt Freya," Hope scoffed. "What if I'm not his choice?"

Freya tried to show the bright side of the situation to her niece. She knew that Hope loved him, she could see it in the way she looked at his picture and hear it in her voice, but if he did indeed reject her, she knew Hope was strong enough to come out of it a better and stronger person. "Then you have more time to heal," she said with a tone of hope in her voice, "and I'm only a call away if you need me anytime or anywhere."

With one last final hug, Hope gathered herself, and walked towards Landon's room.

Hope held her breath as she knocked on the door, not knowing what to expect or even if he was in his room. Within a few seconds Hope saw the door open and Landon's head peaked around, as if he was avoiding all contact with anyone at the school. "Oh, hi Hope," Landon said in a surprised voice, "I didn't think you were going to talk to me this early…" his voice trailed off as his eyes avoided as much eye contact as possible and made their way to the ground.

Hope was already in front of him and it would be awkward if she turned back now, so she continued with her plan. "Well I'm here aren't I?" she said with unintentional snark in her voice.

Landon stumbled around the door to finally show the rest of his body instead of just his head. He was still in the same clothes when they fought the Croatoan earlier. He continued to avoid as much eye contact as possible and fidget around before coughing out: "Um, do you want to come in?"

"Sure" Hope replied, this time making sure to cut down on the snark.

Landon awkwardly left the entrance to his room to clean up the mess of papers from his journal from his bed on to his side table. Hope walked in feeling rejected and uncomfortable in a room that she's spent countless nights in before she jumped in the pit.

She looked around the room to be faced with the normalcy of the science-fiction posters that littered the walls, his guitar neatly on its stand next to his nightstand, and the messy laundry that was slung around the room, yet all of this still felt unnatural to her.

Landon broke the silence that had filled the room for what seemed like infinity, "So, what did you come here for Hope?" he asked, matching the snark in Hope's voice from earlier. He damn well already knew the answer, one that he had been avoiding and wanted to avoid for the rest of the month, but he asked anyway.

Hope took in a deep breath before gathering up the courage to say, "I'm really sorry for bursting out towards you during the Croatoan, but I just wanted to see–"

Landon interrupted as soon as he got enough confirmation as to where this conversation was heading, "You came to see if I still have feelings for you."

Hope simply nodded, too afraid to say anything in fear of seeming like an idiot for even considering this was a good idea in the first place.

Landon paused and was settled in thought before finally filling the void of silence with his answer, "Listen Hope, everything is just jumbled up in my brain so much that I don't know what's real and what's not. It all feels like a dream that I can't wake up from, and maybe," he paused, "I don't want to wake up from this one. Of course I had feelings for you Hope. I loved you."

Hope listened intently to Landon until she heard the word "loved." Past tense, meaning he didn't love her anymore. Hope was on the verge of tears, knowing that she wasn't going to get the answer she was looking for.

"But then you disappeared. Poof. You left me the summer with Josie. You come back and interact with us without telling us who you really are. I don't know what to make of it Hope, I can barley put what I'm feeling right now into words."

Hope tried to gather some composure to not sound like she was about to cry, "Of course," she whispered, I never expected an answer right away. I just wanted some clarity."

Landon looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet with his hands in his pockets, "I don't know if anything will go back to the way it was. But as of right now, I can't give you the answer you want, or even an answer for that matter. I'm sorry."

Landon's eyes were filled with pity that Hope took as unwarranted. She did want to be seen as weak nonetheless his pity because she was just rejected.

Hope quickly made an exit for herself with a lie, "No, it's fine." She turned towards the door before stopping, "Goodnight Landon" she said with a quivering voice.

Hope made a straight line to the bathroom as the tears started to pour down her face. She was so stupid to think she could expect an answer so soon. Before she could dwell on the fact, she bumped into someone when turning into the bathroom. She looked up to see no one other than Josie Saltzman.

Bumping into Josie was the last thing Hope wanted. Josie had dropped her shampoo carrier when Hope ran into her, spilling all of its contents all over the floor. She was still in a robe from her apparent shower as her hair was still damp.

"Oh my god," Hope said, trying to hide the tears on her face and her puffy red eyes, "Are you ok?" I'm so sorry."

Josie bent down to pick her the things that had spilled out of the carrier, slipping her answer to Hope's question under her breath: "Yeah, I'm fine."

To Hope, the Saltzman twin was still an enigma; this was her first interaction with her since she blasted the spell in the gym giving everyone's memories back. They stared at each other after she cast it, like she was finally realizing who the mysterious girl was, who came out of nowhere in Mystic Falls and started hanging out with her dad, but Hope didn't actually know what had gone through her head.

Hope was released from her thoughts when they grabbed the same bottle at the same time, forcing them both to do what they were obviously avoiding: looking up.

The tension didn't go away but only heightened when Josie made slight eye contact before quickly moving her eyes to a different subject. Josie's never seen Hope this vulnerable before. She wanted to comfort her, make sure she's ok, or tell her she would be there if she needed anything, but she couldn't move past everything that had happened these past few weeks with just one look.

Josie played it safe and went against her instinct of being the caretaker of everyone and left Hope in the hallway with a simple "Goodnight Hope."

Josie moved slowly to her room, ultimately feeling guilty for her decision to leave Hope like that, in that state. She knew deep down inside her that they should just put all of this stuff behind them and try and get their friendship back to where it was before, where Hope literally tried to take a bullet for her. But things were never as easy as they seemed. She distracted her mind from the topic by brushing her hair, changing, and making one final decision to check up on Landon before the night was over. After all, he was her boyfriend last time she remembered, but things have changed.

Josie was surprised when her slight knock on his door pushed it open revealing the mess his room had been left in. The drawers to his dresser were open and clothes were either missing or thrown all across the room. His backpack was gone and the journal he always kept on his bed-side table was nowhere to be found. Her eyes shifted to the bed where they found a piece paper ripped out of a notebook with Landon's handwriting:

_I_ _never wanted to hurt either of you, but I know I can't give you all the answers you want or the answers you deserve. I'm sorry to do this, but the only way to avoid causing pain on myself and you all is to leave, to clear my mind and separate myself from all the issues that have risen because of me. _

_My absence will give all of us time to heal and process everything that has happened over these past months. I don't become a burden in the back of anyone's mind, so I hope you all can forget about me, at least for a while. I wish the best for each of you, with or without me in your life. _

_With love and deep regret, Landon_.

Reality began to set in for Josie as tears formed in her eyes. He was gone.


	2. 2: If I Didn't Burn that Note

It was nearly 2 am and Hope couldn't sleep. Her mind kept dwelling on the fact that Landon was gone. She had heard the news from Lizzie after leaving the bathroom. Lizzie was rushing to the kitchen to get Josie ice cream since she was upset about Landon leaving and his method of saying goodbye.

In Hope's mind, leaving a note was cowardly of him, but Landon being Landon liked to run from his problems, so it all made sense.

Hope wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon, so she decided to go to the docks, where she always managed to have her best realizations and inspirations: both things she desperately needed as normal school returned in one day.

The moon was high and its light reflected perfectly across the lake. In that reflection, Hope noticed that she wasn't the only one to have this idea. Josie sat on the edge of the dock, legs hanging off, with her eyes seemingly lost in the subtle waves of the lake.

Hope stepped on some dried leaves making Josie turn around to see who else on earth would come here at this hour. The tribrid kept her head down, not wanting to bother anyone and said, "I can leave–"

But before finishing her sentence, Josie interrupted suddenly, "No. It's okay, you can stay."

When Hope sat down, a large sigh filled the air, but that was the only sound for some time as both girls didn't know where to start. They both held their gaze on the lake, taking in and appreciating the silence and the serenity it seemed to have brought them.

The two girls seem at peace for the first time since the Croatoan, but they still weren't talking like they used to. However, there was a mutual connection and understanding between the girls as they realized why Landon left: he never wanted to hurt either of them.

Hope turned towards Josie after nearly 10 minutes of them just sitting in silence, dangling their legs off the dock with only the sound of their breaths filling the air.

Hope took a deep breath, but yet only a small sound came out, "I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Josie replied right away, turning her body fully towards the tribrid like she had been waiting for her to fill the silence.

"Where do I start?" Hope joked, "I'm sorry for not telling you that I was back. I'm sorry for coming in between you and Lizze. I'm sorry for being the reason that Landon left."

Josie cut her off immediately after the third reason, "Hope, you don't have to be sorry for any of that. I can only imagine what it was like to be back here, where you were surrounded by your friends but they couldn't remember you. God, that must have been so painful, being all alone. I wish I could've realized sooner."

She paused and looked up at Hope, who tried her best to avoid any and all eye contact before continuing, "And you didn't come in between me and Lizzie, that's just normal twin arguments that happen daily."

Josie's joke lifted some of the anxiety that surrounded the two girls, but Hope still had her head down and a small frown sat upon her face.

Josie grabbed both of Hope's hands and held them before restarting, "And it's not your fault that Landon left. That was his choice and now he's shown us who he really is. If anything, I should be the one who's sorry. You sacrificed yourself for us Hope, and I was too shallow to remember that until now."

Hope began to look up with a new found glint of confidence in her eyes after Josie's reassurance that all of this was not in fact her fault. Josie moved her thumbs across the backs of Hope's hands as they were still settled in her own. This small act of kindness had managed to generate a small smile on Hope's face, something that she hadn't done it what seemed like forever.

"But I'm also sorry for being a jealous bitch when I didn't remember you," laughed Josie. Both of the girls' eyes met as the banter continued.

"Trust me Josie," Hope breathed out, "I was much more jealous of you at the time." Hope's despondency slowly came creeping back as the thought of Landon popped back into her head. "I've never told anyone this, but when I came out of Malivore, I came here," Hope's voice trailed off. "I snuck onto campus and, um, you and Landon were having a movie night or something at the mill."

Josie, being taken aback, shifted away from Hope in an act of instinct rather than of purpose. She stared at Hope, her eyebrows furrowed not necessarily in anger, but in confusion like if she wanted more of an explanation.

"I was so jealous," Hope continued as she moved her eyes back towards the lake, noticing Josie's sudden awkwardness.

And just like that, the girls were right back where they began: staring out on the lake, in the middle of the night, with nothing but the silence between the two filling the air. One step forward, two steps back.

After another awkward 10 minutes of the girls just sitting there without saying a word to each other, Hope gathered enough courage to finally say, "Josie, you have no idea how much your friendship means to me, but I won't ever stop blaming myself for Landon leaving, let alone all the other bad things that come from Malivore since I wasn't able to close it."

Josie never took her eyes off the lake as Hope was saying this. Perhaps she was allowing the girl to keep going and let out the rest of her thoughts that had been tormenting her for around the past 4 months.

Hope sighed with resignation, "I guess when he left, it just confirmed that everyone was happier without knowing I existed." She paused as tears began to form in her eyes, "I ruined your relationship with him when I came back, and I can't forgive myself for that because you all are my friends."

There was still no reaction from Josie, who was still, almost statue-like, staring out into the endless mirror of the lake.

Hope's next words came out as sniffles. The Mikaelson witch had finally reached her edge and was on the brink of a complete breakdown. "I guess I just wanted him to think that I'm worth staying for."

As the last word existed Hope's mouth, Josie finally and abruptly, shifted the entirety of her body so that it faced Hope. Her hands found their way to Hope's shoulders as if she was going to shake Hope out of this depressive state herself. "I want you to stay Hope Mikaelson. Don't base your self worth off of a stupid opinion of a stupid boy who was too much of a coward that he has to run away from his problems."

Hope glanced up towards Josie, her eyes still glossy with tear stains gliding down her face. She couldn't form any words and barely managed to get out a small smile before Josie continued talking. "Hope, this place was completely different without you, and I would never want to go back to that reality."

Josie immediately pulled the girl into a hug after her final words. The two girls practically melted with the hug, each needing the comfort as much as the other. Perhaps their friendship was growing back into what it used to be, but this was only a small step in that process.

When the two pulled apart, Hope wiped any remaining tears from her eyes and Josie returned her gaze to the lake. The accepted mutual silence told each girl something about the other that was loud and clear: they didn't know where to go from here.

But instead of allowing the silence to persist, Josie spoke up, in a soft yet undeniably clear voice, "I heard what you said to Lizzie in the gym, about you having a crush on me." She hesitated, her voice wavering, "If I didn't burn that note–"

"I know," answered Hope, interrupting Josie before the conversation could go any further.

Neither of the girls were ready for that conversation to start, so it was best if it never did in the first place.

Hope swallowed hard as she saw Josie stiffen when she interrupted her, "I think I'm going to head inside."

Josie answered with a simple "Okay," and immediately turned back to the lake to hide her reaction from Hope. While she may have put on an excellent show, allowing no emotion to get the best of her, behind her exterior, the girl was filled with regret. She clenched her jaw and attempted to stop tears from covering her eyes.

Hope was almost off the dock before turning back around to get one more good glance at Josie. And with that final glance she whispered under her breath, "Good night Josie."


	3. 3: She'd Deny it Every Time

Josie entered her room, fuming with rage. She wasn't mad at anyone else. No, she was mad at herself. How stupid could she have been, to even think that their conversation on the lake was the appropriate time to bring up the note.

Josie slammed the door to her bedroom with enough power to convey her disappointment yet still soft enough to where it didn't wake Lizzie up.

Perhaps her reaction was her subconscious telling herself something she had been denying for the past few weeks. She would never admit this to anyone, but when she first saw Hope after she returned from Malivore, something about the girl intrigued her.

Something in the way she talked or in the way she presented herself. It was a confidence that Josie never had, yet it was still laced with fragility in which Josie was all too familiar with. And maybe it was a combination of the jealousy that continued to build after this mysterious auburn-haired girl managed to fascinate Landon, Rafael, and Lizzie, one by one.

It was almost as if her subconscious was trying to remind her of the past and the forgotten memories. It spurred up her old crush on Hope, but this time, not as fondness or affection, but as anger and indignation. The amount of time Josie spent thinking about her was the same; it was just filled with different emotions.

Ever since the football game, Josie would stay up late questioning why Landon would be interested in a girl he never truly knew. A girl whom he gave a milkshake to in a brief passing. Was he over Josie? Did he want to break up? Almost every night Josie would go down these rabbit holes, spiraling down the infinite possibilities of who this girl was and what secrets she was obviously hiding.

Many would call this an obsession but Josie wouldn't admit to that. She'd deny it every time. She'd deny that she thought about the girl everyday. She'd deny that she thought about what the girl was wearing or what she was doing. She'd deny wanting to know anything and everything about the auburn-haired girl.

But this was all out of spite and bitterness though, right? Josie forced herself to see it that way, but that line was becoming more and more blurred after each passing second.

Unsurprisingly, her infatuation with Hope didn't go away when the memories came back. Of course, she had only had her memories back for less than 24 hours, but she still felt that same desire to know everything about the tribrid. She wanted to know all her motivations and her deepest, darkest secrets, like the ones she managed to briefly hear before she saved Lizzie and Hope from the Croatoan.

Perhaps she would blame this on all of the black magic she had done recently, but she knew one thing for sure: this feeling wasn't going away. Hope admitting a crush on her only provoked Josie more.

Josie managed to shuffle over to her bed quietly. She reached for Penelope's journal under her bed, as it had become a nighttime habit to read it before falling asleep.

Almost always, there was a new entry everyday, but usually it was from someone whom she couldn't care less about. One of the witches complaining about her potions class, or a werewolf contemplating about his crushes.

Today was no different, but this time that person was Hope.

_ It's official, everyone remembers me now, but I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Nothing feels the same as it did. Josie and I are distant, Landon is gone because of me, and hell, Lizzie and I are closer than we've ever been! It's almost as if the world has reversed itself while I was gone _

_ Naive. That's what I am. For thinking even for a second that things could've gone back to normal. These upcoming weeks are going to be hell. Especially after what happened tonight at the lake. Josie was the one person I wanted to fix my relationship with the most. Tonight only made that harder. We always seem to play a constant game of "what-if" but she risked it all tonight by bringing up that note, and I only wish that I wasn't such a coward to give her a shitty answer for the second time today. She deserves better. _

_ I won't say this week won't be hard, because it undoubtedly will. _

_ But I've got to try. For _ _ Josie _ _ . For me. _

Josie shut the book as if she had been caught reading Hope's private diary. But no one was around. Lizzie was asleep. Hope was in her room. She was completely alone.

A part of Josie felt disgusted with her actions. Looking through someone's private thoughts is a straight shot to losing their trust. But the other half of Josie felt relieved, almost content with what she had just done.

She now knew how Hope felt about the note. Why else would the girl scratch out her name in her journal? To hide something that she herself didn't want to know?

Josie decided not to dwell on it anymore and returned Penelope's journal back under her bed. That night was the first night Josie slept without a hint of restlessness. She slept, fully in peace, knowing that what she had just read confirmed her deepest desire.

Josie woke up to the slightest noise and movement towards the corner of her room. It took her eyes a second to adjust, but when they did, the figure standing there couldn't have been clearer.

The Mikaelson girl stood at the edge of her bed.

She moved away from the moonlight that allowed Josie to identify the girl, becoming only a silhouette that started to only come closer.

"Hope?" the Saltzman witch attempted to whisper out, but her voice came out husky and strong.

Hope immediately moved on to Josie's bed, moving her lips towards the girl's ear. She held the girl's shoulders in place as she almost placed her lips on the girl's lower earlobe. "Shhh" she uttered quietly directly in the Saltzman twin's ear, "you don't want Lizzie to hear us."

Josie tried to move away, but the Mikaelson girl only continued her attack, but this time towards Josie's neck.

Hope placed one gentle kiss after another, moving down towards Josie's collarbone and then back up towards her jaw.

Josie's mind was already foggy from being woken up, but this only made it foggier. Wasn't this what Josie wanted? She had been obsessing over the girl for weeks...in a platonic yet rivalry sort of way of course.

The silence and lack of reaction only triggered Hope's boldness. She moved from the edge of Josie's bed to straddling her. Her breaths were shallow, almost panting, before she finally pushed towards Josie's lips.

Josie had managed to catch a glimpse of the tribrid's eyes before she kissed her. They were glinted with something she had never seen from the girl before. She couldn't put a name to it, but she knew this was not normal.

Josie didn't move against Hope's lips, suppressing her most instinctual desire. Her breaths were short and choppy as Hope pushed urgently against her lips again, just trying to get a reaction from the girl.

Josie had better morals right? This was obviously wrong, and she shouldn't be allowing this, but her breathing continued to indicate otherwise.

In an attempt to catch Hope off guard, who was pushing Josie back against her own bed, Josie finally pushed back against Hope's lips. They returned to a position where Hope was on top of Josie, slowly drifting her hands towards the Saltzman's hips.

Josie had made up her mind. She knew this couldn't go any further. Not yet at least.

Simultaneously, Josie opened her eyes and stuttered "S-stop," but when she opened them, the Mikaelson girl was nowhere to be seen.

The Saltzman girl was left alone in her bed, right where she started the night, but this time with a combination of guilt, lust, and confusion raging in her head.


	4. 4: Don't Make Me Wait

Josie rushed to the bathroom in a state of panic and confusion. Her mind was racing. This couldn't have been real. It was just a figment of her imagination. Everything would be fine in the morning and nothing would come of it.

If this was real there would be hickeys.

Josie starred in the mirror searching along her jawline and down her neck for any red marks. But she found none. She should have been relieved, but instead, she found herself disappointed.

Josie stood disheveled with her hands on the edge of the sink, gripping it until her knuckles turned white.

What was wrong with her? She had allowed herself to do that, like she liked it–no she wanted it.

It could have been teenage hormones or a result of the black magic she had done, but Josie wasn't sure of this feeling.

Half of her wanted more, to have Hope to herself, to get the Mikaelson witch back. Feelings buried deep inside Josie were slowly coming back up to the surface and making themself more and more evident.

Josie couldn't afford losing Hope again, so she resolved to believe the other half: she would keep herself in check and distance herself as much as possible from Hope to ensure this doesn't happen again. Josie still dismissed her deepest desires, blaming on that black magic. This didn't mean anything. It couldn't. Or else she'd get too wrapped up in something that would lead her down a dark hole.

As she looked back up towards the mirror, she noticed her eyes were puffy, on the verge of tears. Conflict was raging in that pretty head of hers, and within 10 more seconds of staring back at herself in the mirror, she began to fully break down.

She couldn't bear to look at herself anymore, pinching her nose and scrunching her eyes in an attempt to suppress the tears that kept falling.

The next time she opened her eyes, she noticed a black figure standing behind her. The figure's weight rested all on one leg as she held her arms crossed in front of her body looking down to examine her black nails.

"It's pathetic really," said the figure, who Josie finally recognized as the dark version of herself, overrun with black magic, "You are so whipped for her and you can't even admit it to yourself."

Josie, too stunned to process the words dark Josie had said, just stared opened mouth at this version of herself. Dark Josie's hair was deep black and her makeup looked like something straight out of goth magazine, except for the girl's bright red lipstick. She was wearing something she could never imagine herself in: a short black leather skirt with a lace bra exposing her midriff with a cropped mesh long-sleeved top over that.

Josie finally mustered up the courage to say something back to herself, who was still looking down at her nails, "I–I," she stuttered, "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play dumb Josie." She said as she rolled her eyes, "I am you after all." Dark Josie began circling her in what little room they had in the bathroom, eyeing her up and down.

When she was behind Josie, both facing the mirror, she began to whisper in her ear, "I know all your darkest desires. Who you like. Who you dislike. Who you _want_."

Josie unintentionally released an audible gulp that made Dark Josie's face go from an intense stare to a playful smirk.

"You know," she started, "If you let me take over, you could have everything you want." Her voice trailed off before continuing, "Power. Respect. Hope."

As Dark Josie said this, she moved Josie's hair behind her shoulder, revealing the hickeys that she somehow missed when she was looking earlier.

Dark Josie punctuated every word, letting it ring out in the air. Hope's one-syllable name sounded almost like a breathy moan, making it seem like her name was made specifically for Josie.

Josie could no longer contain her anger and bursted out, almost yelling, "That was you earlier?!"

"Oh no sweetheart, that was _all_ you. I only helped you out to show you what you refuse to show yourself. You should let your mind wander and dream a little more."

It finally clicked for Josie. She realized her obsession with Hope was turning back into a crush. Only this time, the dark version of herself was here, making it impossible to have a Hope-free second in her day, even in her dreams.

"How are you even here?" Josie asked, frantically speaking up, losing her composure by the second.

"Technically, I'm not." Dark Josie answered with playfulness in her voice, "I'm just in your head, so no one can actually see me and I'll only make appearances when I want to. In case you're worried." She smirked causing a shiver to run down Josie's spine. She would have never thought that black magic would make her this outspoken.

Dark Josie continued, "Thanks to all that black magic you've been doing recently, I'm able to have you actually act on those dark desires of yours."

"But the sandclock is supposed to be helping to contain the black magic."

"First off, who the fuck called it a sandclock. It's an hourglass Josie–I'd thought you'd be smarter than that–but it's obviously not working because I'm right here."

Talking to Dark Josie was like talking to an entirely different person. They of course shared everything from feelings to their favorite foods, but they expressed themselves in such different ways. Dark Josie's snark and sass was something that Josie wished she had the courage to do, but she sees now how much of a pain in the ass it is to deal with.

"But back to the elephant in the room...It's obvious you like Hope, whether you acknowledge it or not. Maybe you should do something about it to satisfy both our needs before I do something you'll regret–"

Dark Josie was interrupted by loud incoming footsteps. She immediately disappeared from Josie's sight like she had promised, leaving Josie with one last piece of advice ringing in her ears, "you might want to cover up your hickeys."

With that, Josie threw her hand up towards her neck, placing it over the marks at the same time Lizzie opened up the bathroom door.

"Jo, you won't believe the dream I had. It started in the library and then Sebastian came and why are you holding your hand like that?"

Josie was leaning against the sink with her hand still on her neck trying to make it look as normal as possible.

Lizzie's eyes got wide, realizing what her sister was probably hiding.

"Is that why you weren't in our room when I woke up? Josette Lucas Saltzman! Who's the lucky person?"

"It's nothing," Josie simply replied, shrugging her shoulders while keeping her hand in place.

Lizzie moved closer and tried to yank Josie's arm down to her side, "Let me see"

"It's not important Lizzie"

"You not showing me makes it all the more suspicious," Lizzie said, continuing her attack.

"Ow Lizzie that hurt. Stop"

Lizzie finally got what she wanted when she pulled down on Josie's hair, causing her arm to shift down too, "That was anticlimactic Josie. There's nothing there."

Josie quickly turned to the mirror seeing that her neck was spotless. Dark Josie must have cast an illusion spell to make it seem like she had hickeys all over her neck. "See," she mumbled, not very confident in her own words, "I told you it was nothing."

"Anyway I'm tired. I'll tell you about my dream in the morning Jo" said Lizzie trotting off back to their bedroom.

Once Lizzie left, Josie heard Dark Josie's voice again, this time like a whisper of someone standing behind her, but she saw no one in the mirror, "Don't make me wait long."

Josie was left speechless, in the bathroom. Her mouth was slightly open and her hand trailed back to the spot she swore she saw the hickeys.

_Fuck_.

Josie woke up the next morning to Lizzie meditating to rainforest sounds near their window sill. "Since when do you meditate?" Josie asked, stretching and making her way towards her dresser to get ready for the day.

"Since today. I have to get rid of all my negative energy before I face Sebastian. By the way about my dream last night…"

Josie zoned out focusing on her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't help herself when her eyes started to wander back down to her neck. It all seemed so _real_, but that was the power of black magic. She would probably need to go to Vardemus' office to use the sandclock–no hourglass–again.

Josie started to change when the door to her room burst open. Her eyes grew wide as the person she intended to avoid for the rest of the day came bustling in, "Lizzie, I need–"

Hope stopped when she turned and made eye contact with a topless Josie. She had barely managed to cover up with the shirt she planned on wearing.

Hope's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head and she let out what sounded like a choke before turning around to let Josie continue to change.

Josie turned around to face the wall herself and quickly put on the top before mustering up the courage to face Hope and Lizzie.

"We can talk about this on our way to breakfast Mikaelson," said Lizzie, practically dragging Hope out of the room.

As Lizzie pulled Hope out of the door, Hope dug her heels into the hardwood and mouthed the words "sorry" towards Josie, before turning the corner.

Even that simple word caused Josie to blush and feel something deep inside her. She couldn't linger on Hope or what had just happened any longer or else she'd be late to her first class.

But before she could leave her room, Dark Josie's voice once again made a comment that broke Josie's composure, "Your move Saltzman. Don't disappoint."

As lunch time came around, Josie had successfully managed to avoid Hope in all the classes they had shared in the morning. She might have been staring in her direction a couple of times, maybe out of habit, but other than that, everything went pretty well.

After picking out her lunch, a simple sandwich and banana, she bumped into Alyssa Chang who scoffed as she dropped her panini.

"Watch it Saltzman. Your phoenix boyfriend isn't here anymore to back you up."

Landon was still a sore subject for Josie who winced at the mention of his name. "I'm sorr–"

Josie was interrupted by another snide remark from Alyssa, "Besides, what could a basic witch like you do anyway?"

Josie normally never let small remarks like these get to her, but after the night she had, she had very little motivation or willpower to keep her composure.

In one swift motion Josie extended her arm towards Alyssa and yelled the incantation "Mitre" which sent Alyssa and her panini flying across the cafeteria landing just short of none other than Hope.

Hope stared at Josie who stood helplessly in the middle of the room with all eyes focused on her. Although far, Josie could see the look in Hope's eyes. They were full of concern and worry as if asking why the sweet and gentle Saltzman twin would ever lash out like this, let alone in front of the whole school.

Josie sprinted out of the cafeteria, not letting anyone get a single whisper out about what she had just done. She ran to her room and casted a barrier spell, threw her back against the door and slid down it.

Shit, what had she just done.


	5. 5: Who's Up for a Road Trip?

Hope rushed after Josie when she saw the events unfold in the cafeteria. Josie had never been that volatile before, confusing Hope as to why she was acting like this.

Did it have something to do with the night before at the lake?

"Josie, please let me in. Let me help." Hope pleaded through the door.

She was received with silence, but her enhanced hearing detected smothered sobs behind the door.

Hope finally gave up after 15 more minutes of pleading, resting with her back against the siphoner's door. She closed her eyes imagining that it was all her fault that Josie was like this.

She should have never gone to the lake last night and should have gone back to New Orleans. But that wasn't something she could fix instantly, so Hope was stuck here, back against the wall, with what-ifs constantly circling her brain.

Unbeknownst to her, Josie was in the same position on the other side of the door–back against the door with her eyes closed, trying to suffocate her sobs.

That incident in the cafeteria lingered in Hope's mind for the rest of the week. Josie was obviously avoiding her, ducking into empty classrooms or averting her eyes whenever the tribrid was around.

On one occasion, Josie used Lizzie as a human shield, moving her sister in between the two so that she could escape the library without having to interact with Hope.

With Josie avoiding her, Hope had never felt more isolated. Everyone else at the school was distant with her, even with their memories.

Because of her lack of friends, other than Lizzie–but even she spent most of her time with Josie–she would usually have a routine. Wake up. Breakfast. Train. Classes. Snack. Homework. Dinner. Sleep.

Hope knew it would be sooner or later before Alaric called her up for help for some monster, even though he wasn't headmaster any more. And she was right.

On a Saturday morning, days in which Hope usually slept in, she heard a loud knock on the door. Disregarding her appearance, she grudgingly got up out of her bed making her way towards the door. "Hang on, I'm coming."

Her eyes widened at the sight of the Saltzman twins, dressed and standing cheerfully outside her door. It was 6:30 in the morning. Hope didn't want to deal with this right now.

After Hope's slight roll of her eyes, Lizzie started: "Our dad wants to see all of us right away. He suggested that we get ready to meet him in Town Square at 7."

Hope's two functioning brain cells managed to let out a yawn, "I'll go, but did you have to come this early?" Hope led Lizzie and Josie to the time on the clock with her eyes, raising her eyebrows as if to ask them if it was truly necessary.

Josie spoke up. "It sounded important."

It was the first time Hope heard Josie speak since the lake, and that had been at least a week ago. Hope's eyes lingered on Josie after her comment. To Hope, Josie looked just as disheveled as her: her eyes couldn't stay on one subject for long, constantly jumping from one item to the next, but never meeting Hope's.

She stood cross armed and closed off from both her and her sister. Perhaps the past week was just as tolling on her.

When Hope had the door almost close, she caught a glimpse of Josie staring dolefully back at her, making brief eye contact before averting her eyes once more. To Hope, this was a baby step in the right direction, towards amending whatever had broken between them.

Within 15 minutes, Hope met Alaric outside of the local coffee shop situated in downtown Mystic Falls. "I know this might be a little too early–"

"Do you think?" Lizzie interrupted, rolling her eyes. Alaric only gave her a warning with a stern stare before continuing.

"I thought you all would want to be involved with any more monster issues."

Without hesitation, Hope blurted out, "Of course. I think it would be good for me–or, um, all of us–to get back into the monster hunting routine." She wanted to sound interested in the proposition, but not desperate. After the week Hope had just had, she needed this distraction.

"Thanks for actually telling us about it instead of letting us figure it out on our own," said Josie, her arms still crossed the same as in the morning. Lizzie only nodded in complete agreement with her sister.

It was completely understandable to Hope: the annoyance the twins felt in regards to monsters. Hope was the one Alaric usually went to for help, not his own daughters. He even put his life at risk with the gargoyle, not to mention the countless times he didn't directly tell the girls about a monster and they had to figure it out themselves.

Alaric simply looked down at the coffee he ordered, realizing that he deserved the criticism he received, even from his own daughters. He was voted out as headmaster because he put kids in danger, and that's something he will never live down.

His next comment gained everyone's attention, making any other concerns fall to the back of their minds, "I think Landon might be in trouble. Before you ask, I asked some of the witches to do a locator spell because I still feel responsible for him since I introduced him to this world. It looks like he made his way south and recently ended up in Savannah, Georgia, but something big has been following him."

Josie was the only one to start asking questions, "Isn't that a good thing? At least we know he's the source of attraction of the monsters, meaning that as long as he's not here, Mystic Falls and the boarding school are safe."

Hope glanced towards Josie with a raised eyebrow. She had never heard Josie speak like this, with disregard for someone else's safety, nonetheless someone she was once friends with, or even dated. Josie was the most caring person Hope knew, but this Josie was different.

Had she changed that drastically since she jumped into the Malivore pit?

"Yes, but we can't just let him fend for himself if something this big and threatening is after him. Besides, I've been keeping an eye on Triad ever since we've discovered Malivore, and they have been moving heavy equipment towards Savannah. This can only mean that they're trying to prevent something bad from happening or they're trying to cover up something bad that has already happened."

With a pause, Alaric stood up from his seat and got out his keys. "So, who's up for a road trip?"

"It sounds like we don't have much of a choice," said Hope and Josie in accidental unison, prompting them to make brief and awkward eye contact for the second time today.

Lizzie had her hand over her forehead and with snark in her voice, she said, "Of course, the mop-headed elf needs saving again."

"Great. We leave in 10 minutes," said Alaric, "I also enlisted Sebastian to go. I'll use this to test his true intentions."

Lizzie's eyes grew wide, but nothing came out of her mouth. Almost immediately, everyone piled into the van, Alaric driving, Lizzie and Sebastian in the middle, and Hope and Josie stuck in the far back.

Two hours into the trip and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Alaric surprisingly zoned out the teenage gossip with a podcast and his headphones because he didn't seem to notice Lizzie and Sebastian's obvious and incessant flirting going on barely two feet behind him.

Josie and Hope were confined to the crowded back seat, with nothing but a lingering sense of growing tension building between them.

Hope could no longer stand the silence that filled the air between the two of them, and asked what was raging in her mind for the past week, "Are you ok?"

It was a simple question, however, Josie seemed to struggle when trying to find the answer. "Yes," she mumbled out, apprehensively.

"You know I don't believe you. You haven't been the same since that Alyssa incident."

"That doesn't matter anymore, Hope. Let it go."

"Let it go? Josie, you've never acted like this before. I want to be there for you."

"Maybe I'm a different person now Hope. I don't need you hovering over me just like my dad. I mean you saw me at the football game…" Josie paused, not knowing where to head with their conversation, "I'm not the same innocent, well-behaved witch anymore. You need to let that side of me go."

"Josie, if you would just–"

Josie grabbed Hope's wrist and subconsciously began to siphon from her, "God, just drop it Hope," almost yelling, but loud enough to get everyone's attention.

Hope shrieked, partly because of the pain from Josie's siphoning, but mainly from the surprise. She pulled away quickly and stared at Josie like she was looking at something foreign.

Josie slumped down in her seat with all the eyes on her, but mainly because she realized what she had just done to Hope. She didn't meet Hope's concerned stare as she put her headphones back in to block out everyone.

Another hour had passed, everyone's attention had been off the two girls for quite some time now, but Hope was still staring at Josie as if she didn't recognize the girl at all.

One step forward. Two steps back.

In Savannah, Alaric went directly to the address the witches gave him. This address was located in the historic district of the city, which was laced with history and local folklore. While the day was humid, there was something else oddly hazy that surrounded the city.

Alaric came to a stop at a colonial style brick row house and knocked. When the door opened, he was greeted by a middle aged woman, "Hi, my name is Alaric Saltzman. I'm looking for my nephew, he sent me this address to pick him up. His name is Landon Kirby."

"Landon? Oh yes, he said he was going to the farmer's market today, but he should be back soon. My name's Martha, I'm the owner of this bed and breakfast. Why don't you come in and make yourselves at home."

Lizzie let out a snide comment under her breath but loud enough for the rest of them to hear, "Southern hospitality at its finest."

The lady led everyone towards the living room which was decorated with Victorian furniture and old paintings that looked like they were from the 19th century.

Alaric started, "Did Landon come here with anybody?"

"No, it was just him," replied the lady.

"That means Raf is missing," Hope whispered.

Alaric looked towards her with a nod, giving permission to look around the house for any threats. "Where's your bathroom?" asked Hope.

Martha pointed, "Down that back hallway and to the left dear."

Hope slowly made her way towards the direction Martha pointed. The hallway was dimly lit and the paintings seemed to follow movement down the hallway as if they were spying.

As Hope reached out for the handle on the bathroom door, she was surprised to see it open with none other than Roman standing in the doorway.

Immediately, he pulled her in and shoved her up against the wall, keeping his forearm against her neck and positioning his other hand over her mouth so she wouldn't scream.

"Hope," his voice trailed off, "you shouldn't be here. It's not safe."

He slowly removed his hand from her mouth but kept his other arm right where it was, against her collarbone, "What do you mean it's not safe? And what are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe to help Caroline."

"It's a long story, Hope. I don't have time to explain it all."

"You have me pinned up against a wall Roman. I'm not going anywhere and I'm sure as hell not letting you leave until you spill."

"Fine. Yesterday, two major covens here got into a fight when Landon stole something. I don't know what he stole but one coven thinks the other stole it. Luckily, I found him in time and told him to lay low here until the tensions die down, but he left early without telling me. I was just about to leave to search for him. One of my contacts here just told me that the witches are planning something dangerous, or they've already cast something without us knowing, so I've got to go and find him before he gets hurt."

Roman turned to leave but Hope grabbed his shoulder pulling him with enough strength that he stumbled forward, only catching himself with one hand placed on the wall next to Hope's head and the other on her hip. "Wait, why are you trying to help him? I thought you hated him."

He sighed before finally answering, "For you Hope."

He stared deeply into her eyes with compassion that she had seen only once before from him. "I know how much he means to you. Even though he won't choose between you and Josie, he still loves you Hope. I gotta go."

He leaned in one final time, placing a placid kiss against her cheek, before speeding out the back door of the bed and breakfast.

Hope had completely lost focus of what Alaric instructed her to do as she was caught up in her feelings. Seeing Roman was the boiling point for her after being isolated for the past week back in Mystic Falls. He only reminded her of what her past life was like.

With all these old memories resurfacing, Hope was beginning to fall off the edge, resulting in a mental breakdown. She's had these "panic attacks' 'ever since she got out of Malivore and she would usually wolf out to deal with them, but she couldn't here.

Hope jumped back at a slight knock on the door, before it opened, revealing Josie, the last person Hope wanted to see.

"Hope…" Josie called out, her voice questioning but not in a badgering way.

The Mikaelson girl looked up and met Josie's eyes. Instinctually, she moved back in the total opposite direction of the girl, with the intention of not wanting to hurt her.

"Get out Josie!" yelled Hope. She stumbled backwards until she couldn't anymore as her back hit the wall.

Josie continued to slowly walk towards the tribrid, reaching out to hold her head between her hands in an attempt to calm her down.

"I'm not okay Josie. I could hurt you." mumbled Hope who tried to push Josie's hands away from her face. She was only returned with more vigilant efforts from Josie who disregarded everything the tribrid said.

"No Josie, you can't. Everything's so messed up right now. I can't think straight and I don't know what I could do. I can't take that risk, not with you. Please just lea–"

Suddenly, Josie grabbed the Mikaelson witch by the waist and brought their lips together in a soft kiss, taking Hope off guard. The stiffness in Hope completely faded as she eased into the kiss, placing her hands behind the siphoner's neck.

Her breathing steadied and she stopped trembling in Josie's hands. Hope leaned into the kiss, finally pushing back passionately and with enough force to move Josie up against the sink.

The tribrid moved her hands from the nape of Josie's neck to her thighs so that she could lift her up on the sink's counter.

Josie willingly obliged.

Both were so immersed in the kiss that all their worries fell away. The monsters. The past week. Everything. Time had just stopped.

Hope's hands moved up the siphoner's thighs towards her hips, before finally breaking apart for air.

The two remained tangled together, pressing their foreheads against one another.

Hope's erratic breathing turned into heavy breathing. She was about to reconnect their lips, as Josie sat in disarray on the bathroom counter, but they were interrupted by screams coming from the living room.

The two quickly were cast out of their trance, staring at one another like they both didn't know what had just happened.

Another scream prompted them to run back to the living room. They were greeted with the sight Sebastian on the ground, knocked out, with Lizzie kneeling by his side.

The host of the bed and breakfast and Alaric hostage with a knife to his throat.

Martha spoke up, "By order of the Chatham coven, surrender your friend and we will let you live."

Right after, the front door opened to show Landon and Roman, "Bad timing?"


End file.
